USA Cycling is pleased to announce the hiring of Joan Hanscom as the organization’s new Director of Event Services.
Hanscom will lead USA Cycling’s efforts to better support the thousands of cycling events across the nation, refining or developing policies and products which meet the needs of event directors across all disciplines and event formats. She comes on board during an exciting time as USA Cycling seeks to transform itself into an innovative, customer-driven organization and substantially expand its support of mountain biking and events like gran fondos and gravel grinders.
As the Director of Event Services, Hanscom will oversee the renamed and restructured Event Services Department, which will provide a range of services to event directors including online registration; provision of officials; results and rankings; anti-doping testing; marketing to USA Cycling’s audience; and comprehensive insurance coverage which can include liability, medical, auto/moto, umbrella, and event cancellation. The team includes Colorado Springs based Event Services Coordinators (formerly Membership Service Coordinators) providing customer service, as well as field-based Event Services Regional Managers (formerly Business Development Managers) providing on the ground support and guidance.
USA Cycling’s commitment to better serve mountain biking can be seen in the organization’s recent policy changes which feature improved economics for mountain bike promoters, including a $5 rebate on one-day licenses, the elimination of permitting fees, and the removal of the one-day license requirement for practice days. These changes have already won the business of significant mountain bike events such as 32 of Gone Riding’s mountain bike races, the Iowa Mountain Bike Championship Series, the Western Montana Trail Series, South Carolina’s Harbison 100, Florida’s Dirt Devils MTB Festival, and Texas’ DORBA series.
USA Cycling has also begun transforming its ability to serve grand fondo and gravel grinder type events with the addition of a third permitting tier sitting between recreational events and traditional races. Thanks to the new rules associated with this third tier, USA Cycling is proud to announce its partnership with one of the largest gran fondos in the country, Gran Fondo New York; as well as Alabama’s Cheaha Challenge; The Assaults in South Carolina; the Mt. Diablo Challenge Hill Climb in California; Iowa’s 101 Gravel Ride; the Gravelleurs Raid in Kansas; and Texas’ Dirty Fury Stage Rush, Castell Grind, RCP Revolutions, and South Gravel Pursuit.
“Joan is a deeply experienced race promoter, a long-time cyclist and racer, and a leader,” commented USA Cycling CEO Derek Bouchard-Hall. “She shares our event director community’s passion for hosting great events and she understands their challenges. She is uniquely qualified to drive USA Cycling to be the customer-focused and value-creating organization that we aim to be for all cycling events in America.”
“I’m tremendously excited to be joining the team at USA Cycling,” Hanscom said. “In a way it’s a deeply personal move because I love the sport in all its forms and it feels right to be returning to my roots. I’m also very much looking forward to being part of USA Cycling’s efforts to grow the sport from the grassroots, and to use my past experience as a promoter to work with other promoters to dramatically enhance the value of USA Cycling’s support for cycling events.”
Hanscom comes to USA Cycling from ABUS Mobile Security where she led US public relations and marketing for the well-known bike lock brand. But it is her years of experience as an event director which set her apart from the sizable applicant pool. She was a partner with Pro G, an event management company, which was behind the first successful bid to host the UCI’s Elite Cyclocross World Championships in Louisville in 2013. Other roles include being a partner in G4 Productions and the Event Marketing Director at Threshold Sports. Some of the events that Joan has managed include the US Gran Prix of Cyclocross, the Tour of the Red River Gorge, the Pedros Mountain Bike Festival, the Long Run Circuit race, and other local events. Joan has been named one of the 50 Most Influential Women in the Cycling Industry by Bicycle Retailer in 2014 and served on the USAC Cyclocross Sport Committee for a two-year term (2011-2013). She holds a BA from Boston University.
She started in her new role in Colorado Springs this week.